Steve Jobs – "stay hungry, stay foolish"

Robert Capa at the barbican

How very true.

Photos that might make you cry

Days with my father is a stunning website put together by Philip Toledano.

Stylistically I love the subtle focusing and soft palette of colours but what moves me more is the obvious affection between son and father. He writes how the death of his mother and his father's inability to record short-term memories compelled him to begin a record of their time together. I admire them both for their honesty, the words and pictures expose a relationship to strangers and invites viewers into an intimate arena. Not sure about the navigation, it's very 'slick' but it's a bit idiosyncratic for my puritan tastes.

Mr Toledano also takes great photos of, among other things, bankrupt business and phone-sex operators. Worth spending a lot of time looking at these. (The photographs, not necessarily the phone-sex operators).

In his biography Philip writes about how a photograph should be "like an unfinished sentence...there should be space for questions", sentiments I'd agree with. Pictures can paint a thousand words but they don't have to tell the whole story. I like the idea that they can stimulate a train of thought and create a connection with the viewer.

Related post: photos and memories

Bob Greenberg

Good skills from Bob Greenberg, a man who seemingly forecast the way the wind would blow through the creative industries. Jumping from movie titles, into special effects, into web-design with apparent ease. Very humbly he spent a lot of time talking about the staff in his offices, no disrespect to them but Bob was so fascinating i'd rather he talked more about himself and his work. A very clever man, he said to Kodak ten or so years ago people would one day stop using film in cameras to which he was laughed. Wonder who is laughing now?

Projects worth looking at:
nikeid
nikeplus
nokia nseries

Blue Jake from Brooklyn

Recent discovery on the photoblogging circuit. Great photos not so much because of the style, more because of the subject matter - the down at heel side of New York. Warehouses, abandoned lots, and light industrial units are all captured by this Brooklyn native.

The well captioned photos suggest a man prepared to get off the beaten path to find the places other photographers just don't reach. And seems to possess a belief in the power of serendipity, always a delightful and rewarding trait.

Love music, hate racism

Love Music, Hate Racism.
Fuck the BNP.

Militant atmosphere in Victoria Park for the Rock Against Racism concert. Inspiring to hear passionate and committed people stand up and be counted. And good tunes too from mix of newbies and oldies. Standouts for me were Jimmy Pursey (Sham 69) covering The Clash's White Riot' and 'Dancing in the dark' performed by the all-stars who stepped in to replace Baby Shambles. It could have gone horribly wrong but it was so bad it was good. Long live the guilty pleasures in life.

Evening wrapped up by The Good, The Bad and The Queen. Never paid tehm too much attention before but realised that yet again Damon Albarn is a VERY clever man. Stunning ensemble rendition of 'Ghost town' closed the event.

Shanghai shots

Mega city five? no, Shanghai.
Epic photographs by Horst and Daniel Zielske

Brendan Austin

I've started to recognise the type of photograph I like – landscapes devoid of human existence, dreamlike environments with saturated colours. And those where the photographer has made a real effort to get to a different viewpoint. I guess this collection ticks those boxes.

Brendan says this about his photographs:

"Shot as a series in new zealand. i used a large generator and floodlights to light the scene. all the images are shot at 48 second exposures with reference to my late father. i travelled all around north island new zealand alone, including into deep forest for days at a time, deserts and coastal areas, with a wheel-barrow that my equipment filled. these are edited examples from a large series. they also have not been altered in any way by form of cropping or computer."

Paper sculptures

Intricate hand cut paper sculptures by Jen Stark

Kate Gibb – master image maker

interesting observation about screen printing, point no. 3

Seen this at T5? Awesome...

Watch the video to see the cloud in action
Created by troika

Small space living

Simple. Small. Dee Williams lives in a dream house tinier than a parking spot. "A simpler life, time, more money. I don't have a mortgage. I don't have a big utility bill,"

I really like the way of living she's adopted, and I know it's not practical for everybody and I suspect you've actually got to get to a privileged, well-off point before you can choose to give it all up but her attitude is perhaps something others could learn a little from. Notice she has an affiliation to Tumbleweed houses, more about her here on youtube.

Saw this article recently on the BBC and noted the similar themes, ie stuff doesn't make you happy.

20 X 20 = pecha kucha

Went to a sweet event at the Japanese Embassy last night. Sake, sushi and plenty of Asahi kept a large audience well lubricated whilst they were entertained by the latest Pecha Kucha evening, a quickfire series of presentations from Japanese influenced guest speakers – including typographer Jonathon Barnbrook, Archeologoist Simon Kaner and product designer Emiko Oki.

Each presenter was allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This kept presentations concise and the interest level up.

Refreshing to watch ten speakers with completely different backgrounds and interests speak about their work, influences and relationship with Japan, and surprisingly the disciplined structure of the night actually seemed to loosen things up and keep the pace ticking along.

Naturally some speakers were more assured in their delivery but even the less confident, less eloquent were able to deliver an informative snapshot of their thinking. Interestingly businesses have explored how this approach might keep meetings short and relevant.

Some more nights are planned for the summer, and D&AD are borrowing the format for one of their lectures. Well worth keeping an eye out for them.

Have a happy hand-made Christmas

This year I decided to buy handmade gifts direct from their makers as much as possible. Whereas in previous years I'd abstained from giftbuying and donated the equivalent amount of money to charity, i felt this was an appropriate alternative tack.

My inspiration came from this post on cookie's blog. And a quick search around reveals that there is burgeoning handmade/crafted movement simmering away. I think the gifts that you can give a far more interesting and by their nature completely unique.

So with this in mind I journeyed to the Sunday Spitalfields Market where I brought the following:


A tweed purse with funky lining

A scarf

Some bags


This lovely bag made from vintage kimono's is problably my favourite buy. My mum, the bag's recipient is a talented textile artist who has always been interested in bags and vintage fabric and cultures - perfect!


And this leather purse was brought from the lovely Jill Green.
Her stall in the Art Market off Brick Lane is a treasure trove of printed delights – and she lovingly gift wraps everything. A double bonus.

Out and about #1

Seen on the pavement outside Wieden and Kennedy's London office near Brick Lane. An enraged environmentalist or an aware advertising artisan? Don't know but looks good.

Recording the mundane and the ugly

I like how Louie Palu has made drab concrete boxes become soaring cathedrals of industry, outwardly presenting the power and energy achieved within. His work focuses on "The Golden Triangle...a geographic area located in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Historically, this region has contained some of the richest deposits of gold, silver, uranium, nickel, copper and zinc. A significant number of mines have closed." (via polareintertia)

A more emotional approach to the type of industrial buildings captured by the Becher's – Photographer's who I also like. They obsessively recorded fast disappearing industrial architecture in the Rhur in a consistent clinical manner, travelling around the region in a VW camper van. Less about telling stories, more about taking notes.

Making the message count

This is what it's all about. A well placed, thoughtful gesture beats the one-size-fits-all approach every time.

There are some gems on the rest of Marian's site, I think she writes well with humour and intelligence. Stunningingly intricate imagery.

The description she gives of herself is warm, honest and inspiring - a refreshing read. Reminds me of the Howies and Threadless ethos which for me breaks down as this: Work hard at what you enjoy and concentrate on the things that make you happy, everything else will fall into place behind you as long as you've got the courage to 'hold firm'.

Greg Girard

Great photos of China here